#thread.ginika

Ginika had seen friends hang, and while she was convinced none of her crew were in fact responsible for this, she could never completely rule it out. She'd bided her time before she'd called forth the best of her crew - after having discussed at least the plan in part with Nico.

"I called you all here because I plan on having my revenge on the Crown for what they've done. But not before I know when the right time to strike would be, and if we can count on any other pirate vessel to support us... or stand in our way."

"Any intell would be most helpful," she said, as she opened a bottle of rum and poured herself the first glass before handing the bottle off to the next one.

The salt of the ocean felt more constricting as the wind blew in upon the empty vessels within the bay of Tortuga. The ongoing siege upon their resources had led to hunger, which led to either people turning violent or beaten down.

Ginika had always been more prone to the first rather than the latter. She was a survivor. It was necessary given that she had a whole crew to keep in line and to protect from the attitude of the locals. She kept them aboard mostly, only sending out some to find them more supplies - or anyone who’d trade. Sometimes she’d send them off in small vessels to do what they did best: lure in any ship for the slaughter. The crown wouldn’t best her that easily.

She made sure to show herself around Tortuga whenever she could. A layer of powder on her face to ensure the bags under her eyes were less visible, one of her best dresses on, a look that kept most at a distance. Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me. Or. My. Crew. clear in her eyes. 

She sent the one that had accompanied her onwards and made her way into the tavern, looking at the sign that said the kitchen was closed, ordering herself a glass of ale. “As long as this place remains open, I will not despair,” she told the other patrons.

Her skin felt on fire, tight around her aging bones. She missed the sea, she missed knowing she'd have a full belly. She missed being able to use her coin to get her way. Now for food she felt like she needed to beg. She needed some way to release the tension. Her fingers carefully tracing the muscles underneath Mutya's skin.

"I hope Dorian is keeping you and the other Sirens well fed," she whispered into the other woman's ear.

Ginika folded the creases out of her dress as she stood from her chair in the tavern, her face a quiet coming storm. There were no cracks in her careful facade, but there was something brewing. She straightened her back and walked towards the smuggler - whether known or unknown, she was not new to his face. He'd once roamed the seas as something else.

"I have a list of things I'd need, but I'd appreciate it if we could speak elsewhere."

Ginika had kept her future plans close to her bossom, certain that she didn't wish to express her plans until she was certain that she could live up to them, that she could in fact make her wishes a reality.

Because revenge was a wish.

And now things were coming together in her mind, she would have to set her soldiers to work. Other captains - and other pirates - might laugh at her for rarely ending up in open battle, but they simply didn't understand the amount of work that lay behind every successful raid led by the Wake.

It was the work that had to be done that gave the biggest thrill, would it all lead to success, or would they have to give up before they slit the throat of their next victim.

She had gotten into the inn with barely a soul noticing her, a long coat over her beautiful velvet dress. She kept tabs on her pirates, and finding Josephine was neither difficult nor meant to be. After all, they were crew. She didn't knock, nor check if Josphine was really there. Simply silently made her way into the room and took a seat, knowing the Whisperer was already aware of her coming before she'd even gone up the stairs.

"I have to say the inside of the room looks much better than what I expected given the exterior," she said.

Ginika did not often find herself speaking with other Captains, as if there was some unspoken rule that they should never meet on land, they should always keep a distance from each other. Just in case. Though she would more likely find herself in close quarters with the captain of the Oathbreaker than the captain of the Raider's Revenge.

Yet, there she sat, a glass of the finest Scot whiskey she could get ordered to Tortuga in hand, and the other hand against her breast bone as she found Magnus occupying the only table in the tavern not filled to the brim.

"Here I was thinking I'd heard rumours of the Revenge having left port already," she commented, as she sat down without invitation.

Places that were once avoided because they brought nothing to the table, were lived in once again. And Ginika knew it was those places that she best avoid now. There were snakes in places such as these, common folk came here to give into their vices. Common folk turned to snakes. 

She was looking for snakes. But it could not be good for her mind. Still she sat down next to Ptarmigan, and eyed the dealer. “What are we betting on, today?” she asked, one hand on the table as she leaned back, looking regal and bored.

Ginika tapped Letti on the shoulder, gently, as she walked away from the dock towards her ship. “Are you headed out, Letti?” she asked. She did not say so kindly, not as a mother - though maybe wished that from her - but as a commander wishing to know how her soldiers were faring. As a commander who did acknowledge her soldiers were important, but she would never smother them, or keep them closer than was necessary. “I searched the markets but there was nothing new there.”